This month, four Jesuit students (Isabel Crespo, Abigail Rawlinson, Sophie Schmidt, and Elizabeth VanDomelen) will participate in the inaugural Jesuit Global Activism Leadership Summit. The Summit is open to students and teachers from secondary Jesuit schools across the globe. Participants will gather with a common mission and vision to collaboratively explore solutions to the challenges and injustices we face worldwide.
"The Jesuit mission calls us to engage with the many diverse people of our world," says Jennie Kuenz, Jesuit's Associate Director of Ecological Justice and Global Networking. "I am excited to see how our students are able to connect and share cultural perspectives and traditions with peers from our global Jesuit community."
"I wanted to participate in the summit because I really enjoy learning about different cultures and perspectives," says junior Sophie Schmidt. "Especially during the time of COVID-19 when we feel so isolated, I think that seeing people from different countries (even through a screen) and discussing ways in which we can make the world safer and more sustainable is really important."
Over the course of three Saturdays in March, students will connect, share cultural perspectives and hear presentations from expert speakers on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They will then work with a cohort of students from around the world to produce an action plan that addresses SDG in global communities, and conduct a presentation of this plan as the culminating activity.
"What I hope to gain from this experience is a more developed understanding of how culture has impacted the pervasiveness of many challenges and injustices that those who are marginalized face, and a heightened awareness on how other communities approach these global issues," says junior Isabel Crespo. "I think this summit is important because it will enable me, and my other Jesuit partners, to gain new perspectives about internationally-focused social injustices."